Inquiring

As the village head was about to leave, he turned and met Man Bao's eyes. His steps involuntarily paused, and he stopped to ask, "Is this your little girl?"

Man Bao lifted her small face and sweetly smiled at him, and the village head instinctively smiled back.

Old Zhou, with a heavy heart, pulled Man Bao over and whispered, "Quickly call the village head grandpa."

Man Bao crisply called out, "Hello, Village Head Grandpa!"

The village head couldn't help but smile, his wrinkles all gathered together. He reached out his somewhat withered hand and gently patted her little head, saying, "Good, very good…"

As the village head left with his entourage to collect money from the next household, Man Bao rubbed her little head and asked her father, "Why does everyone like to pat my head?"

Man Bao's hair was fluffy, and due to the cold weather, she had not shaved her head for several months. At this point, her hair was almost covering her ears, soft and fluffy. Text: ### Old Zhou, upon hearing her question, also patted her head and said with a smile, "Because our Man Bao is so cute." ###

Man Bao was delighted. With a smile on her face, she turned to bid farewell to Zhou Sirlang.

Zhou Sirlang had packed all his clothes, and Mrs. Qian had made him two pairs of thick shoes. Man Bao also packed a bag full of candies for him, saying, "Brother Four, if you get hungry, just eat the candy." Don't worry, tomorrow I'll have my brothers find you and prepare some meat soup for you. "But I think ginger soup is better than meat soup, so I'll cook ginger soup for you."

"No!" Zhou Sirlang immediately objected, "Brother Three still has meat soup to drink, and I'll only have ginger soup?"

He had tried it before, and it was not good at all.

Man Bao coaxed him like a child, "Brother Four, ginger soup can ward off the cold." Big Brother said that building the dam requires standing in the water, and ginger is even more expensive than meat.

Zhou Sirlang replied, "I just like to eat inexpensive things, not expensive ones."

Man Bao pondered the taste of ginger soup and nodded in agreement. It was a coincidence that she also thought so.

Zhou Sirlang was supposed to gather that day and go to Jiangding Village with the other strong men from the village. It was reported that the county office had already purchased a batch of materials, and construction was scheduled to begin the next day.

Jiangding Village was not very far from Qili Village, at least closer than going to the county town, but it was in the opposite direction. It took about four quarters to walk upstream along the water.

Qili Village was a small village with only about sixty households. Therefore, the village head was from Dali Village, overseeing the sixty households here and thirty households in Dali Village. Dali Village was considered a large village, with two village heads. Therefore, the large gatherings of nearby villages were held in Dali Village.

The situation in Jiangding Village was similar to that in Dali Village. There were about a hundred households in the village, all under the jurisdiction of one village head. The nearby small villages were also accustomed to conducting business and trading in Jiangding Village.

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang had gone to see the broken dam beforehand. Three miles upstream of Jiangding Village, there were no households, and consequently, no sellers were present.

However, Zhou Erlang believed that if they set up their stall there, people would definitely follow because it was too close to Jiangding Village.

They were afraid that they would not have an advantage at that time.

The brothers discussed and decided to build a thatched shed not far from the riverbank. This way, it would not only be beneficial for the business but also for securing a spot. They could even sleep there at night to guard their belongings. After all, it was not very cold at the moment, so they thought it would be fine.

The brothers, who had already conducted business in Laoding, were quite confident in this venture, so they were not as hesitant as they had been the previous year.

Old Zhou and Mrs. Qian did not stop them; they allowed them to leave.

So Man Bao, along with Zhou Wulang, went to discuss with Zhou Dalang, "Big Brother, ginger soup is even better than meat soup. "Do you want us to cook some and sell it to you at a low price?"

Zhou Dalang was surprised, "Do we still have to buy it?"

"Of course," Man Bao said matter-of-factly, "Brother Four still owes money to the family." If you don't buy it, and he ends up eating all the ginger from the fields, how will he repay the debt?

Zhou Dalang thought for a moment and realized she had a point. Thinking that cooking a pot of ginger soup wouldn't require much ginger, he nodded and said, "Alright, how much do you want to sell it to us for?"

"I asked Brother Four, and he said thirty wen would be enough."

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang had no objections. After all, the money would go to Old Four, who would then give it to the family. It was just an extra step.

So, even forty yen would be acceptable.

As for the money in the hands of Old Five... Zhou Dalang looked around and then picked up Man Bao, whispering, "Man Bao, tell Big Brother quietly, how much money have they saved with you?"

Man Bao covered her mouth and said, "I promised them I wouldn't tell you."

"Tell Big Brother quietly, and I won't say anything."

Man Bao couldn't help but lower her hand and said, "The teacher mentioned that once a secret is shared with a third person, it ceases to be a secret." "So I won't tell you."

Zhou Dalang: "..."

If she didn't want to tell, then she didn't want to tell. Anyway, in a year or two, he would find out.

Zhou Dalang wanted to know how much money Old Wulang and the others had saved because Old Zhou had mentioned that after this labor service, they would build a new house at home and start arranging a marriage for Old Four.

After all, he was now an adult, and getting married would help him take on the responsibilities of a family.

This year has unexpectedly gone smoothly, and the family is earning money much faster than in previous years. Although they had the funds to build a house, they might still be lacking the necessary finances for Old Four's wedding.

Thinking about these matters, Zhou Dalang, Zhou Erlang, and Zhou Sanlang went to Jiangding Village to secure a spot, set up a simple thatched shed, and planned to open for business.

Those who had bought their soup and vegetables during their labor service last year knew what they were up to, but there were still many who didn't know.

This included the county office supervisors who were curious and came to ask. When they heard that Zhou Dalang was going to do business there, they couldn't help but laugh, "This is all labor service, what kind of business are you doing?"

Zhou Dalang smiled and said, "I'm just making hot soup for everyone. It may not be much, but as the weather is getting cold and everyone is working in the water, I'll cook some meat soup and ginger soup to keep the cold at bay." "My brothers are also in there."

"Oh?" Which one?

Zhou Dalang pointed to Zhou Sirlang, and the supervisors couldn't help but laugh, "So this smooth-talking kid is your brother, huh?" I know him well. He has been coming to our area to sell ginger for a while now. "What, do you have so much ginger at home that you're making soup here?"

Zhou Sirlang's main selling point was its proximity to the official's residential area near the county office and the neighboring wealthy residential area. He was there almost every day, so the supervisors naturally knew him.

Although they didn't live there, they worked there, and those were the main patrol areas, right?

So, they not only knew him but were quite familiar with him.

Zhou Sirlang was very eloquent and had already become quite friendly with people during this time. Therefore, when he encountered these familiar faces during his labor service, he was promptly assigned to move stones and shovel mud on the shore.